Published Feb 21, 2026 | 9:36 AM ⚊ Updated Feb 21, 2026 | 9:36 AM
Kerala Health Minister Veena George. (Facebook)
Synopsis: At the time, only three police officers were on duty. Additional forces arrived 15 minutes later to remove the activists, who have now been arrested. More police personnel have been deployed, while the minister is attending an official event in Pathanamthitta.
A major security lapse occurred at the official residence of Health Minister Veena George in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday, 21 February morning, when Youth Congress activists entered the premises and placed a wreath at the door.
At the time, only three police officers were on duty. Additional forces arrived 15 minutes later to remove the activists, who have now been arrested. More police personnel have been deployed, while the minister is attending an official event in Pathanamthitta.
The Youth Congress is demanding Minister’s resignation and more protests are expected across the state today over alleged medical negligence at Alappuzha MCH.
Meanwhile, police have also filed a case against a Youth Congress worker, Praveen and around 15 others for allegedly disrupting a press conference at Government MCH, Alappuzha in connection with the Usha Joseph medical negligence case.
The group reportedly entered the Telemedicine Hall in J Block, waving party flags, shouting slogans, and climbing on tables, intimidating officials including Principal Dr. B. Padma Kumar, Dr. Harikumar, Dr. Lakshmi, and four police personnel.
The incident took place between 11 and 11.30 am on Friday, 20 February. Meanwhile, three more activists outside the hall reportedly rattled the superintendent’s office grill, raised slogans and threatened hospital staff.
The Ambalappuzha Police have registered a case against retired surgeon Dr. Lalithambika Karunakaran for alleged medical negligence after a surgical instrument was reportedly left inside a patient’s abdomen. The FIR was filed based on a complaint by Usha Joseph’s sister-in-law, Margaret.
According to the complaint Usha underwent surgery on May 5, 2021 to remove a uterine tumor at the hospital.
The complainant claimed that the procedure under Dr. Lalithambika’s supervision was conducted negligently putting Usha’s life at risk. She reportedly suffered abdominal pain and bleeding after the surgery, allegedly due to a surgical instrument left inside her body.
Later on Friday, senior congress leader Ramesh Chennithala visited Usha, recovering at Kochi Amrita Hospital. The instrument has been successfully removed, and her condition is stable.
Chennithala expressed concern over the incident and assured Usha and her family of full support, including help with medical and legal matters.
The case has been registered under Sections 125 and 125(a) of the BNS 2023 with DySP Rajesh K.N assigned to investigate.
Dr. Lalithambika has denied personally performing the operation stating that her name appeared in records only as the unit chief. She clarified that the instrument seen in the X-ray was a small mosquito forceps, attributing the incident to a system failure while acknowledging that no instrument should remain in a patient’s body and surgical tools must always be counted before and after procedures.
She also noted that Usha had undergone a prior surgery at the hospital suggesting the instrument may have been left during the earlier operation.
An expert committee confirmed that the patient had surgeries at the hospital in both 2007 and 2021.
(Edited by Sumavarsha, with inputs from Sreelakshmi Soman )
